


I just want you for my own

by Grumpy_Dragon_13



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, M/M, Sort Of, meeting pre-series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 15:58:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13057302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grumpy_Dragon_13/pseuds/Grumpy_Dragon_13
Summary: They walk into Hilton bickering like they always do, attracting a lot of attention and curious looks, it's not like it mattered anyhow, Danny's used to it by now, people assuming they're married and whatnot, which under closer inspection should clue him in into things a long time ago.The elevator is conveniently waiting and Danny's thankful for small mercies.





	I just want you for my own

The neon sign blinks at Steve and he's torn between being excited and reserved.

Reserved because he just wants to curl up in a bed and sleep. He's cold and tired and he can't say that he likes the piles upon piles of snow but Mary seems to love it so he tries not to destroy her joy by grumbling and voicing his displeasure. He kind of hates that they're stuck in New Jersey, Newark to be precise, of all places and have to wait for the flight taking off tomorrow morning. Everything because of a storm going through the coast, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing. They checked into a hotel and currently, they're standing outside a small pub since his mother decided that while they're stuck in here they can as well go and see what that place has to offer.

And that's where the excitement underlined with curiosity starts. There's a music playing, it's dulled by the door, but it must be really loud inside and Steve is swept by the sounds coming out. It's hard to describe, but it makes Steve's heart beat faster and it moves something in him, pulls at his soul and he feels dizzy by it.

His dad goes first and his mom ushers him forward, she holds Mary who looks around curiously with wide eyes. Steve scrunches his nose for a second, he's ten and all he wants is to see aunt Deb but on the other side the unknown excites him and the curiosity finally wins.

Once they're inside Steve almost stumbles when he hears the music without any barrier on and the pull he feels is stronger now. His eyes immediately go to a small illuminated scene with musicians right at the center of it. They play and sing and it's nothing like Steve has ever seen or heard. He doesn't know much about music, but the sound of the saxophone seems familiar and he hazily remembers a new mainland kid from his school listening to something like that, saying it was jazz.

His mother steers them near the scene to a free table with comfortable looking chairs and after handing Mary to his dad, she goes to the bar. Steve looks after her for a second and then takes a moment to look around and take things in.

The pub smells of tobacco and hot chocolate and coffee, it's a weird combination, but somehow Steve doesn't mind. The pub is dark with a few dim lights here and there and Steve looks around with rapt attention spotting a big Christmas tree in the corner across from their table.

There're people everywhere smiling and laughing, some are whispering and some of them just talk loudly and without a care in the world. They look content and at ease and for a second Steve feels like he stepped into another world altogether.

The music stops, the song coming to an end and he feels a pang of disappointment when he sees the musicians stepping off the stage. It's a pity, he hoped to hear more of that soul moving music but then he catches an eyeful of blond unruly hair; he blinks and shakes with amusement when a small boy in a tiny suit complete with a tie, stalks to the scene looking around frantically. He catches Steve looking at him and his eyes widen before he straightens up, not that it makes much of a difference. He grins impishly, putting a finger to his lips in the universal sign to keep silent, Steve nods his head and shrugs curious what's going to happen next. The boy beams at him and Steve can feel a smile tugging at his lips, too.

The blond hops on the scene, with grace and agility, and walks to the grand piano on his tiptoes looking right and left. Not sensing any imminent danger he touches the piano with a care Steve wouldn't peg him for then he opens the lid and sits down on the seat. Steve snickers, because the boy barely touches the pedals and it looks more than ridiculous but also kind of cute. Steve doesn't think much of the possible musical abilities of the kid, but then his tiny fingers fall down on the keys and the music flows and Steve is overwhelmed by the sheer strength of it.

The boy plays for a moment, his fingers dancing on the keyboard before he opens his mouth and the words of a song Steve vaguely recognizes fall from his lips.

_I'll be home for Christmas_

_You can plan on me_

The voice is surprisingly deep for a kid this size and age, the thick drawl of the New Jersey accent is perfect and Steve opens his mouth, mesmerized by the sight.

_Please have snow and mistletoe_

_And presents on the tree_

_Christmas Eve will find me_

_Where the lovelight gleams_

The people in the pub fall silent and there's some commotion behind the bar. He sees in a corner of his eye someone coming out of the back and he assumes it's the owner of the pub, his expression is stormy but when his eyes land on the stage it morphs into a surprise. Steve kind of hopes the boy won't be in trouble for it, but then he hears someone say ‘Oh my God, no.' He looks at the person who turns out to be a pretty blonde woman who looks at the child playing the piano with horrified resignation, a man clapping her shoulder and saying ‘let him.'

Steve stares at them for a second concluding that they must be the boy's parents, he looks back at the kid who swings from side to side, his eyes crinkling in the light and a huge smile adorning his lips.

_I'll be home for Christmas_

_If only in my dreams_

_I'll be home for Christmas_

_You can plan on me_

_Please have snow and mistletoe_

The boy looks at him and winks making Steve laugh, he stops when he catches his mother smiling at him with Mary back in her arms again. His sister is watching the blond with open mouth and interest sparkling in her eyes, she shakes her head to the tune just like she would at home listening to her favorite songs.

It seems the boy caught not only his attention.

"He has a really good voice." His father says, the corner of his mouth twitching before it breaks into a smile that softens his face up and it's such rare sight that something in Steve's heart swells.

_And presents on the tree_

_Christmas Eve will find me_

_Where the lovelight gleams_

_I'll be home for Christmas_

_If only in my dreams_

The song comes to an end and people stand up to applause, the boy jumps from the seat to bow, all huge movement and flail of hands getting more flamboyant by the minute.

The owner of the pub claps, too and the boy looks just a tad rueful when he mouths ‘I'm sorry' it lasts all but a second before a brilliant smile uncoils on his face making the man laugh and wave his hand dismissively.

The blond sure knows how to work the crowd, pinned the showman gestures down, no problem. He bows once again, eyes sparkling and then he jumps from the scene, like a little monkey, and runs up to his parents. His eyes were ridiculously blue, the bluest eyes Steve has ever seen. They remind him of the Ocean back home and suddenly he finds himself in need of going into the water and swim.

He shakes his head and looks at the kid and his parents. The woman frets and gesticulates wildly, but she's smiling so Steve takes it that she's not all that mad, the boy grins and giggles when she pats him on the head and it's kind of weird seeing them being so openly affectionate with each other. His own family is not that free with their emotions and he tilts his head to look at his parents.

"He must be a handful." His mother says and Steve nods. "But he has a nice pair of lungs on him, must be the loudest kid on the block."

And the prettiest, too, Steve thinks, tiny and with a mop of blond locks and sparkling blue eyes and the biggest smile there is. He takes a moment to think about that because he's sure no boy would want to be called pretty and to be frank he never saw a boy that he could call that, but this one was and Steve felt justified to call things as they were in reality.

So pretty it was.

"I'm going to the toilet." He says and waits for the permission, he's not about to wander around the foreign place without his parents knowing where he is. His dad nods so Steve goes to the back where bathrooms are located.

He thinks about the boy, at the thrill he felt when the kid started to sing, the exhilaration and anticipation of what's to come next. He wanted to see that boy singing again, maybe if he prayed long enough his wish would come true?

The bathroom's empty, so he does what he needs to and goes back to his parents, his head full of tonight's performance.

He's maybe a few steps outside when something collides with his back with a big ‘oomph.' He turns around to the sight of the very blond he was thinking about sitting on the floor and massaging his nose.

"You ok?" He asks and the boy looks at him, there're tears in the corner of his eyes and Steve feels a panic rise in him. He kneels down to look over the kid.

The blond snorts rolling his eyes, "'m fine. Help me out, would ya."

Steve blinks and the blond shakes his hand impatiently so Steve helps him up. They look at each other for a moment and Steve notes that the tie which was knotted nicely before is undone and it's just hanging around the boy's neck.

"You like ties?" He asks, pointing at the piece of garment and the boy shudders which reminds Steve of their neighbor's Chihuahua, wet and trembling after a sudden downpour.

"I hate them." The boy exclaims with wide eyes and a quick look at his parents. "Don't tell anyone." He whispers conspiratorially like he just shared the biggest secret in the world. Steve needs to bend down to hear him, but when he does he giggles.

"No problem. I hate them, too."

The boy smiles at him, swaying on his heels and moving his hands around. "Thanks for not alerting anyone." A sheepish expression crosses his face.

"Sure. I was curious what you're going to do."

"And?"

"I liked it. You're amazing." He says earnestly grinning so much his cheeks hurt, "where did you learn how to play?"

The boy giggles in delight, "my grandma taught me." He says proudly with a blush rising to his cheeks.

Cute.

"You're cute." Steve smacks a hand over his mouth, "um… I… ugh…" he tries to explain himself, damage control as his dad says, but he can't find any words when the boy blushes right to the tips of his ears, looking to the side and twisting his hands in front of him nervously and peeking at Steve from under his eyelashes.

Adorable Steve thinks and has to bite his tongue to not let this one go out of his mouth, too. He flushes in embarrassment, "I… well…"

The boy looks at him shyly, "you're such Pantagruelian goofball." He says fondly hiding his hands in the pockets of his slacks.

"Panta… what?"

"Pantagruelian – enormous." The boy shrugs, "I like learning new words."

Steve looks at the boy critically. "Isn't that a bit too big of a word for you? Is that even a real word?"

Where did he even get one like that? The kid doesn't look like one liking to sit around with his nose stuck in a vocabulary, making it a point of honor for himself to learn the most difficult and weird words he could find.

But the looks and behavior can be deceiving as much as Steve's aware. He doesn't have to look far, he didn't think the kid could sing and surprise, he not only could but he killed it leaving Steve breathless.

The boy puffs his chest and swings his fist. "Hey! I'm not small! And yes, it is a real word!" He shouts and Steve almost cringes at the decibels, but it's nothing, he could handle Mary screaming into his ear when she wanted something so he can handle this one too.

"You kind of are but it's normal for kids your age." He says, looking the boy up and down. He's small, around the height his classmate's seven-year-old brother is so he guesses the blond must be around that age, too.

"And what age is that?" The kid crosses his arms over his chest, staring at Steve with a raised brow, tapping his foot impatiently. Something tells Steve that this one is prone to involve himself in fights of all kinds and that at least one part of him needs to be in constant motion, it's like his whole body tells Steve to hurry up.

Steve shrugs, "seven."

"Who is seven?"

"You?"

"I'm ten." He deadpans and Steve chokes on the air.

"What? But you're… you're…" He flails helplessly gesticulating up and down the boy's body, "you're…. um."

The blond squints his eyes as in mocking Steve and his efforts maybe rightfully so, "very eloquent of you Mr. Giraffe."

"Who is—" Steve starts, but the blond points a finger at his chest.

"You are."

"I'm not."

"You are but it's not important."

"And what is?"

The boy grins jumping on his feet, his face lighting up in an instant, "Where are you from?" Steve watches in fascination as the light catches in his hair, they sparkle in gold and Steve really wants to touch it, but it would be inappropriate to ask and he can't just go for it, he really wants to, though. It would be embarrassing, to say the least, so he quickly dismisses the idea and focuses on the boy's face locked in curiosity and anticipation. It's not much better and for a fleeting moment, he entertains the idea to just grab the kid and bring him home and keep him forever, which of course won't do at all.

"So?" The kid bounces up and down, "you're really tan so you must be from somewhere where it's sunny and warm, right?"

Steve snaps back to reality and opens his mouth, "Hawa—" he starts, but someone shows up in his periphery and he recognizes the pretty woman that he assumed is a mother of the boy he's currently talking to.

"Oh, here you are Sweetheart. Come on we're going home."

The boy slumps a bit, disappointment taking over his face, "already? Do we have to? I just found a new friend." He points at Steve, his lips quivering but his mother gives him an exasperated look and shakes her head at her son's antics.

Steve's heart jumps at the ‘friend' part, though, something hot blooms in his chest and he smiles.

The woman looks at Steve and then gives him a nod with a small but warm smile, "I'll give you a minute to say goodbye and then we're going." She says tousling her boy's hair, making him whine; she giggles, glancing at Steve one last time before she takes a step back.

The blond sighs, but nods and his mother turns around to go back to the table where her husband waits, holding her coat and helping her into it.

The boy looks at the ceiling for a moment, another sigh leaving his mouth, but then he blinks his eyes focusing on something and he grins making Steve frown. He starts looking up, but the boy fists his hands in Steve’s sweater, and Steve takes a moment to wallow in his hatred that he even needs to wear one, and pulls him down to plant a peck on his lips. Steve's completely taken by the surprise and he doesn't comprehend what just happened, he just stares owlishly at the other boy.

The kid flushes and mouths, "Merry Christmas" just a breath away from Steve's lips. His eyes are glowing with electric blue in the light and Steve mind comes to a stop because this was his first kiss and with a boy of all things, but the blond smiles at him crookedly with blush high on his cheeks and Steve feels his neck burn. The boy proceeds to hug him tightly, then and who knew, but for such squirt, he sure is quite strong.

Steve doesn't want to let go, "Merry Christmas." He lets out, but the boy is already moving out of his reach, waving his hand at him before he runs into his mother's waiting arms.

Steve is left standing there dumbfounded and confused and a million other things. He stands like that for a while, he watches the boy leave the pub with his parents and he wants to run after him but he's rooted to the spot. He eventually glances up to see what caught the boy's attention and he sees a mistletoe hanging right above his head, the laugh bubbles from his throat, of course, there's a mistletoe. He stares at it for some time until he feels a pressure on his leg, tiny fingers holding the material of his jeans and when he glances down, he sees Mary looking up at him, he stares back and when she moves from leg to leg he spots a Navy blue tie right next to her red-booted feet.

Tie that belongs to the boy and must've fallen down when he pulled Steve down for a kiss.

He flushes furiously at the memory and when his sister tilts her head, he bends down, picks up the tie and hides it in the pocket of his jeans without even thinking about it and when he stands up he lifts his sister asking her what she wants.

"Mama and Papa want to go."

Steve nods and walks to their table feeling stupid for not asking about the boy's name because as things stand out he doesn't even know who stole his first kiss.

He smiles though at the thought of the mischievous blue eyes and beaming smile not sure he'll ever forget that exhilarating sensation filling his veins up.

 

~~*~~

 

Danny finishes the shower, ten times longer than Steve's ridiculous rules allows, and walks into Steve's bedroom to take his spare clothes from the wardrobe. Steve kind of fought with him about it and Danny reluctantly agreed that keeping a spare batch of clothes at Steve's house wouldn't be such a bad idea considering the number of times he spent the night on his partner's couch, like today for example. He makes maybe two steps into the room when he hears Steve's phone going off, with a sigh, he walks to the nightstand and when he sees it's Governor Denning the alarm bells go off in his mind and he doesn't waste time to pick up.

His thumb slips on the screen and he swears under his nose, sweeping his hand on the towel around his waist and tries again this time with more success. "Yes, Governor?" He silently curses again when the towel almost slides from his waist. No one answers for a long moment, so he speaks again. "Governor?"

"Detective Williams?" Denning asks hesitantly, Danny squints drawing his brows together and trying to keep his towel in place which is a little bit hard with one hand.

"That would be me, yes. What is it? Do we have a case?"

"Where's Commander McGarrett?"

Danny can almost picture Governor frowning face, he has no idea why the man sounds so carefully confused. "He's taking his morning swim to China and back."

"I see. There's a case. A very important German Official went missing I want five-0 to look into it. I'll send you the details on your phone." There's a second of hesitation before he continues, "do you and Commander want to tell me something?" He sounds weird and if Danny had to guess, he would say it's awkward, but why Governor of all people would sound awkward he has no idea.

Danny quirks his head, trying to think what is it about but he comes up with nothing. "All right, I'm on my way," and as an afterthought, he adds, "and I don't believe we have anything to say not anything important anyway, Steve didn't destroy any property and didn't go on any secret mission under the radar as of late and he doesn't intend to as far as I know so I think we're golden." Because what possibly could Governor mean by asking if not for their usual crazy shenanigans, but when Denning says ‘understood,' and ends the call, Danny has a sudden feeling that wasn't what the man had in mind at all.

He stares at the, now dark, screen and tries to figure out what was that all about, he threads his fingers through his hair and growls in frustration. He's so focused on the phone that he doesn't hear Steve’s coming in, which is bad because he's a cop and it could be a thief instead of Steve and he would be dead by now most likely, he still may though (from embarrassment, but still) because he forgot about the damn towel.

"Danny, you're up." He hears Steve say and when he takes a step back, to turn around, the damn piece of cloth comes undone, falling down to the floor.

"Is that my…" Steve starts while Danny throws Steve's phone on the bed and bends down to catch the towel, it's kind of too late, but he still ties it around his waist trying to swallow the mortification down, it's nothing he tries to reason with himself. He just flashed his ass at his partner, not awkward at all, especially since Steve is oddly silent.

Great.

"Very observant of you Sherlock and yes, that's your phone, Denning called." He says as he turns around with all the dignity he can muster and grins at Steve, the grin falters a bit when he sees Steve staring at him intently, something hot explodes in Danny's stomach at that look and he gulps. "Steve?"

Steve snaps his attention back at his face and whatever it was earlier hiding in his eyes is gone now and Danny is thankful, not sure if he could hold the intensity of that stare.

Steve shakes his head and smirks down at Danny and he knows that whatever will come out of this giant super SEAL mouth will be something ridiculous and he won't like it.

"Well, I always knew you had the best ass Danny, but you didn't have to go for the trouble showing off and in my bedroom to boot."

Danny makes a disgusted face and Steve laughs.

"I'm glad you hold my bottom in such a high esteem, but I swear to God you're such a capricious menace, Steve seriously," Danny grumbles striding straight for the wardrobe and change of clothes he needs desperately or he'll combust into flames.

"Capricious?" Steve asks and he's too close to Danny's liking.

"What? You don't like my vocabulary? You should get used to it after all these years." He turns to look at Steve, who is right behind him with a playful smile which irritates Danny, he points his finger at his chest, "and now go take a shower and wear your cargoes, we have an important case." He pushes him to the bathroom, "so chop chop."

Steve laughs again and Danny has that strong urge to kick him in the ass even if he's grinning himself.

"Chop Chop? Really?"

"Yes, really. Now go, meet you in 5 in the car."

Steve disappears into the bathroom, still laughing, and Danny shakes his head. He looks at the clothes neatly folded on the shelf and with a sigh, he takes them out to change into, he's glad he already had his morning coffee because otherwise, he's not sure if he would be able to deal with this shit so early in the morning.

He changes in what must be a lightning speed that would make Steve proud and practically runs down the stairs trying to calm down the fireworks going off in his belly. After all these years of nice and wonderful denial or rather the lack of time to think things through the reality of their relationship kind of caught up to Danny and he came to a conclusion that he's attracted to his friend or… well… more than attracted. It must be a norm by now. He was married to Rachel for ten years and then a year of divorce before he figured out that her hitting his car all those years back was her way to literally hit on him.

Some detective, he was.

Now, though, since he figured it out he was pretty much sure Steve felt the same way, whatever the goofball realized it himself or not. Now that Danny got it, (and isn't it better late than not at all?) the things between them, every little glance, Steve sent his way, every touch and every ‘I love you' came with a completely new meaning and look at that aren't things are put into a perspective over time.

The thing is he's not sure if they're ready to address this thing going on between the two of them, this constant push and pull that's there from the beginning. He wonders if that could even work since they're complete jerks to themselves when it comes to putting feelings into words and Danny can complain at Steve being the constipated Neanderthal, but when it comes to talking about emotions he doesn't fare so well either. He has his own defense mechanisms, too, like irony and sarcasm for example. He's not proud of it, especially since he's ready to go for Steve to the end of the world times and times again and it's just the tip of the iceberg of things, the lengths he would go for him. And that's the thing, they can be total jerks to each other, but they express their concern in an utterly roundabout way or maybe not, depends on the point of view.

The new but old attraction does funny things to Danny's heart and he's too old to go through this again.

Especially since his heart is in constant exposure to said man regular craziness. Honestly, half the time he just wants to knock this idiot out and the other half he just wants to put him into a blanket, roll him into a nice and big burrito and keep him warm and safe.

In other words, he's screwed and there's no screwdriver big enough in this world to unscrew him.

This is his life now.

He's so deep in his thoughts that he doesn't realize he went for the shotgun and when he does it's too late to change the seats because Steve's coming out of the door. He catches Danny’s sitting on the passenger seat and stops on the stairs to blink his eyes, leering at him suspiciously. He slowly makes his way to the Camaro and when he finally gets inside Danny wants to whack him over the head for taking so long, for staring and for that goofy smile.

"I was sure you're going to drive."

"Sorry to disappoint you, now can you please start the car, we have an important case."

Steve hums and makes himself comfortable before he starts the engine. "What's the case?"

"Some German Official went missing, Governor wants five-0 on it."

Danny tells Steve the address giving him more details from the message Governor sent to his phone and Steve nods, his face morphing into the I'm-on-a-mission one, he shoots on the road causing Danny to grip the handle above the window and his heartbeat to speed up.

He'll never get used to it.

He's not sure if he wanted it any other way, though, and that's how far he's gone.

"Would it kill you to drive within speed limits?" He says with a bite, but with no real heat behind the words and with a lazy grin stretching his lips.

Steve looks at him with a scowl and then stares at Danny before he looks back at the road, a smile forming on his ridiculous face in answer to Danny's own.

~~*~~

They walk into Hilton bickering like they always do, attracting a lot of attention and curious looks, it's not like it mattered anyhow, Danny's used to it by now, people assuming they're married and whatnot, which under closer inspection should clue him in into things a long time ago.

The elevator is conveniently waiting and Danny's thankful for small mercies.

"I'm just saying Danno – which floor was it?"

"7th and I know that they're going to be back for Christmas but I –"

"Then don't worry, I know that the thought of spending Christmas without your kids is—"

"Right, so can we please stop this now." He motions to the panel above the door that shows a nice and big seven. "It's our floor, so Atta boy, let's go to solve this crime scene in time for the Governor's funky fundraiser."

Steve does his best impression of a suddenly stranded on sand fish, gaping at him and looking back and forth between Danny and the door which finally opens, Danny started to suspect the door got broken, but fortunately, they didn't so he steps on the corridor Steve right behind him still trying to find his words.

"Atta boy? Wha—" He moves faster to keep up with Danny not that it would be hard having legs going up to the sky, "you're ridiculous." He points at Danny which makes him snort, "no, Danny, seriously."

"You're a prat, McGarrett."

His partner stops halfway through the hall to gape at him. "Prat." He says dryly and Danny bursts out into hysterical laughter.

"Yes!"

"That's –" Steve starts eyes squinting and all, but Danny is already shaking his head at him and holding his hand up.

"Hold it. I can use a word prat I was married to a British woman for ten years I know my way around so don't get your knickers in a twist." Ok, Danny shouldn't take so much enjoyment in this, but Steve's face is hilarious and all right he enjoys it hands down. "So if you stopped imitating a very offended fish straight out of the water we have a crime scene to solve. One that Governor asked to look into? That one?" Danny makes an abortive move with his hand, "does it rings any bells?"

"I've known you for 6 years—" Steve starts with a frown and Danny snickers.

"2 months and 26 days, exactly." Danny finishes for him grinning from ear to ear, because he can keep tabs on things, too, and it's worth it, looking at Steve's astonished face. "Anyway, I might not use those words, but it doesn't mean I don't know them so there's that." He says and turns around because he apparently broke his partner.

He walks inside the room or well apartment and hums in approval. That right there is some top-notch thing and he wouldn't mind spending the night in such luxury, but it's not the time to think about it so he glances around, noting all crooks and crannies.

Everything looks surprisingly neat for a crime scene and he hopes there'll be something because Governor wants it to be solved yesterday and Danny can admit with all his heart that he hated crimes involving big shots. They're like a nasty cavity, making his life miserable.

Steve's comes inside, too, and he knows without looking that his partner's focused on the case now and that's good.

Danny goes into the bedroom eyes going to the broken nightstand lamp, lying beside the bed which is unmade. He spots Lou coming from the balcony and making a face at him.

"What took you so long, guys?"

"Traffic," Danny says simply and Steve grumbles behind him.

Steve glances around taking the room in, "so who is our kidnapped man?"

Lou shrugs, "Santa Klaus." He says seriously.

Danny blinks, "wait, Governor said it's some important official from Germany not one of those fake Santa's running around." He says, glancing over his shoulder at Steve and exchanging a look with him. Steve shrugs and nods at the laptop and folders scattered around on the table by the window. Danny scrunches his brows because it kind of screaming ‘yes' for some kind of Official but ‘no' for a Santa Claus, it's ridiculous that's what it is.

Lou lets out a long-suffering sigh, "Are you done with your silent conversation?" They give him identical glare and Grover holds his hands up, "chill out, seriously and yes it is a German Official."

"I'm confused." Danny glances at Steve again, who has that puzzled puppy dog face, "so what? You want to tell me his name is Santa Claus or something?"

Lou looks at him pointedly.

"No kidding." Danny waves his hand before he puts it in the pocket of his pants. "You're joking, there's no way some big shot from Germany is named Santa."

"Well, his full name is Santa Ludwig Klaus. Klaus with a ‘K'." Lou says raising a brow when Danny glances at Steve again.

"With a ‘K.' Right, whatever." Danny says doubtfully, this was ridiculous.

Grover moves over handing him the victim's ID and Danny stares at it for a long moment, thinking why in all hell the man didn't go with the middle name.

"What were his parents thinking?"

"Beats me." Lou shrugs.

Steve crosses his arms and Danny takes a second to look at the ridiculous tattoos before his attention is back on the room.

"So what do we have on this?"

"There's a video footage. There are two kidnappers, they dragged him outside and went for the stairs. Then packed him into a car with hidden plates and took off."

Danny nods absent-mindedly moving around until something under the bed catches his eye. He kneels down by the bed and moves the quilt up, he puts on the gloves and takes out an evidence bag. He reaches for something that looks like a stun gun and puts it in the baggie while he stands up. "I think I know how they knocked him out." He shows the evidence up and waves it a little.

Lou quirks a brow at that, "well that would explain how they managed to put him down."

Steve frowns, "what do you mean?"

"I'll just show you the video." He moves to take the tablet lying on the commode, "here."

He shows them the video, it's a little grainy but Danny can make out their person of interest and the two perpetrators. "Well, not only he's named Santa Klaus but he even looks the part." He grins and Steve rolls his eyes at him, but his eyes crinkle at the corners so they're good.

Grover groans, "seriously, what's up with you two?"

Steve cocks his head, crossing his arms tighter around himself, "nothing, we're good."

Lou looks at them doubtfully, "right, let's pretend I believe you for a second. I have no idea how Chin and Kono dealt with your ludicrous asses all the time for all these years."

Danny waves his hand and sways on his feet, "I don't know what're you talking about." Except he has an idea, but he's not about to voice it out. "Anyway, back to the crime and our very own Santa? Man we need to find or Denning will make our lives more miserable than they already are? Yes? Fantastic. So do we know what car it is?"

Lou sighs, "Chin's on it."

Steve claps his hands, "great, do we know where he's been before the kidnapping?"

"Dinner with some big shots. Kono already pulling out their names."

Steve nods so Danny goes for the door, dialing Kono’s number.

"Good. Danny and I are going to talk with them. You ask around the Hotel maybe someone saw something more that could help us identify the kidnappers."

"Got it."

Steve turns and catches up to Danny. "Tell Chin to go with the car lead and Kono to look into Klaus past, maybe there's something that'll clue us into why someone would want him taken."

Danny nods and when Kono picks up, he instructs her what to do and in exchange, he gets the list of names their Santa had a dinner with.

Still sounds ridiculous.

~~*~~

They talked with Klaus's dinner friends and except for them being high and mighty and generally irritating they didn't know a thing and weren't very helpful either and all of them had an alibi. Danny wanted to hit his head against a wall, repeatedly.

"I hate this." He grumbles and Steve gives him an understanding look.

"Me, too, buddy."

"Stupid Santa Klaus, what do you say maybe we could ask for help some elves or his fellow Santa's." This is madness, he catches a glimpse of another guy in a red suit and growls with frustration, make it double madness. He's not sure if he'll ever get used to seeing Santa's in this sunny paradise instead of snow infested places as it should be.

Steve chuckles, gripping the steering wheel a little bit tighter. "We can stop by Liliha."

Danny perks up at that, his mind clearing up and the headache going back where it came from. He blinks for a few seconds because it can't be right, why would Steve voluntarily mention Danny's favorite bakery, why would he suggest to stop by. Danny must be dreaming, that must be it, there's no way there's a German Official, who tries for the ministry stool, called Santa Klaus and absolutely no way in hell that Steve would take him to Liliha's. He stares at him suspiciously until Steve takes a double take at him.

"Who are you?"

"What?"

"You're offering to go to Liliha's of your own volition, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Steve starts laughing, "can't I do something nice for you? You like Liliha's Coco Puffs and we're close by anyway."

"Nice. You." Danny points at Steve narrowing his eyes, trying to see what's going on his partner head. "What do you want?"

Steve grunts, looking at Danny like he offended his Grand Grand Grandmother or something, "I don't want anything from you, God, Danny."

Gobsmacked is a strange look on Steve and Danny sags on his seat, "we're really stopping at Liliha's?" He tries not to sound hopeful, but it's **_the_** bakery and he just melts thinking about their baked goods. Steve glares at him for a second before it morphs into fondness, his eyes going all dopey and everything.

"Yeah, partner."

The Coco Puffs should be a cure to madness, really, Danny ate a dozen of them and his humor went off the scale.

They walk into the HQ and Kono looks at his smiling and content face, then jerks her head to look at Steve, who grins like a loon, clearly proud of himself. Danny would say something about that, but Steve got him Coco Puffs which he paid for with his own money so he lets it slide. Although he must admit that Steve radiating that smugness all over the place reminds him of the beginnings of their relationship. He reaches into his memory and it hits him. The day after Steve spend a night with Catherine, he looked exactly like that. All the way to the Cheshire cat's grin or cat that got the canary smile or whatever, the point still stands. Kono looks between the two of them her mouth formed in a small ‘o.'

Danny shakes his head and takes a sip of his water because all this sweetness dried out his throat. He catches Steve looking at him and Danny holds his gaze, watching his face all the while he drinks up. Steve's eyes move down to Danny's throat at the way his adam's apple is bobbing up and down while his head goes back and Danny has to look through his eyelashes at Steve. Steve, whose eyes are completely transfixed on him, Danny feels himself heat up under such scrutiny.

Kono stops gaping and points a finger at them. "Oh My God you've had sex!" She exclaims and Danny chokes on his water while Steve splutters, "what?" He waves his hands snorting. "No. Don't be ridiculous."

Danny wheezes, and coughs and he may actually die today after all. Kono stops and her eyes widen in mortification, "Danny, brah? You ok?"

Danny shakes his head, trying to project into the room that a hand clapping on his back would be very much appreciated right about now. Thankfully, bless Chin, the better one of the cousins, who listens to his silent prayers and hits him between his shoulder blades a few times before he rubs his back.

"You're good, brah?"

Danny nods, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand and pulling a face at Kono. "There was no sex to speak of, what the hell gave you the idea?"

Kono dimples at him, like that would placate him in any way and all right it does. A little bit.

"Well—"

Danny sighs, giving Steve a long-suffering look, "it's your fault, fix it."

Steve opens his mouth, "excuse me? Why is that my fault?"

"Everything's your fault," Danny says even if he knows it's not true, but this was safe and familiar ground.

"Danny—"

"You're right, it's not your fault." He says and Steve lifts his brow startled. "You bought me Coco Puffs, and I'm warm and sated so I'll let you off the hook." He beams at Steve and something crosses his face that Danny doesn't recognize, it's too fast, but it doesn't matter, he turns on his heel to look at Chin. "You—"

Chin points at himself, eyes laughing even if his mouth doesn't as much as twitch, "me?"

"Yes, you. Please keep your cousin at bay Chin Ho Kelly, she's dangerous, that's what she is."

Chin exchanges a look with Kono, "you heard the man, cuz."

"But—"

Danny sighs, massaging his temple. "Kono, there was no sex. I know that because I'm pretty sure I would notice having any and I didn't thus no sex to speak of."

"What sex?" Grover asks from the door to HQ and Danny smacks his head on the screen table.

"There's no sex. End of the story. What've you got on our missing Santa?" Steve says and Danny sends his way a thankful smile.

"Literally nothing. No one saw or heard anything."

"Kono?"

The woman slumps a bit, seriousness taking over her face. "Nothing for now, but I'm on it, boss."

"Chin?" Steve turns to look at Kelly then at the screen when Chin pulls out some street camera views.

"I found the car driving up 16th Ave and that's pretty much it, but then Lukela called me to say that someone reported spotting a car matching our description near the Mau'Umae Nature park. He sent his people to check it out and sure enough, it's our car. I think our kidnappers had someone waiting for them there to change the cars."

Danny growls, "alright, that's great. Do we know what car they took off?" He cracks his eye open to peer at Chin, who actually smiles.

"As a matter of fact, we do. More so, I was able to track two more cars they abandoned. The last one is left at Waiahole Valley Rd."

Danny straightens up with sudden energy, especially since Steve's eyes go round with realization, "great so where it is exactly?"

Kono sneaks up on him to put her arm around his shoulders, eyes huge with glee and there shouldn't be any glee because they need to find that German official preferably alive, it wasn't time to be gleeful. "It's right next to Waiahole Forest Reserve."

Danny blinks his eyes and then the words sink in leaving him horrified. "No."

Steve squints his eye, making that strange thing with his face that Danny hated. "Don't worry Danno, it'll be fine."

He hides his face in his hands and mumbles, "fuck my life." Kono shakes against him and he glowers at her, "don't you even start." He hisses, but his threatening side must be lost in translations because she laughs and he can kind of understand why she's not in the slightest bit intimidated by his persona. No respect for him. No respect at all.

"It can't be that easy." He tries, because let's face it, it was easy and he doesn't think that people who kidnapped a German Official would be stupid enough to lead them right to them.

Steve shrugs, looking at the map, Chin helpfully pulled out on the screen, he studies it for a second and the determination that creeps onto his face is not at all reassuring.

"Danny and I are going to look over there and see what we'll find."

"I dreaded you'll say that," Danny says feeling the headache coming back again and Steve goofy, satisfied grin does nothing to soothe him in the slightest.

"The rest of you look for clues here."

Kono beams at him, almost bouncing on her feet, making a little salute. "Aye, aye, bossman!"

 

~~*~~

Danny was right, he usually is and now they're stranded in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a night, completely cold and battered up and with a raging storm.

"I hate you, just so you know." He grumbles trying to keep the heat inside his body, but doing rather a poor job of it. Everything because of Steve’s wonderful idea of sweeping the damn forest in a helicopter and that wasn't all that bad, but Steve doing the emergency landing because they were out of fuel – that was awful and Danny would fight with Steve on that except he was freezing and slightly dizzy and all in all feeling plain miserable.

Steve peeks at him from his spot in the little alcove in their cozy little cave and smiles down at Danny, "it's not true you love me."

Danny sighs, looking up and almost jumping out of his skin when exceptionally loud thunder rolls around. Then he shudders because wind sneaks into places it doesn't have any business going into, his teeth clatter loudly and he sneezes trying to hug himself tighter and maybe, possibly, curl into the smallest ball possible. He's so absorbed in his trying to keep warm that he doesn't catch Steve sliding from his spot and hurling Danny's up and onto his lap, back to chest, arms around his waist kind of way.

"Wha—"

"Shh, you're freezing and this way the borh of us can keep the warmth in."

Danny's mind short-circuits for a second or two or ten and when it comes online Steve is already cuddling him to his heart's content and he would argue, but Steve's warm, like really, really warm and it's a total bliss to his cold marred bones.

"Right, you're the super SEAL, you would know. I'm not complaining for the record. You're like a human radiator so it's absolutely fine by me, babe."

Steve hides his smile in Danny's hair and his heart absolutely doesn't skip a beat at that, it does, however, stutter in panic when the sky brightens up and a few thunders strike somewhere nearby, tearing up the sky with terrible, we're-under-nuclear-attack kind of noise and there's an honest to God hail coming out of the sky like angry bullets now. "Oh My God, I thought the hail doesn't happen on this pineapple rock. I thought it's too warm in here for that."

Steve hums, hot air puff coming out of his lips right onto Danny's neck. "You're right, but on the other hand, it's not completely unusual."

Danny snickers making himself comfortable in Steve's arms, who knows when he'll have a chance like that again. "The next thing we know it will be snow falling down."

~~*~~

The cavalry arrives at dawn and Danny's a little bit out of it by the time the team finds them. They're escorted right to The Queen's Medical Center. They don't have hypothermia, which is good the whole sharing body heat paid off at last but they still need to stay for observation for a few more hours.

Lou looks at them, and the old fox smirks at them like he had the time of his life.

"Right, laugh it out, Lou. Come on I know you want to."

Grover shakes his head at him and Danny tries not to be all broody and grumbly but he's still chilled. He exchanges a look with Steve, who looks like Danny feels.

"You guys, you look like shit."

Steve quirks an eyebrow at that, "you don't say."

Lou shrugs, "anyway, just like you thought Danny the whole jungle thing was a dead end."

Danny grits his teeth to stop himself from saying to Steve ‘I told you so.' Not that it would matter or change anything and well he got to cuddle with the goofball so he's going to look at the positives here.

"So any leads?"

Chin strides into their room and looks around, he holds a laugh, too. Danny can tell, it's all in the eyes. "Kono found some connection from his past to one Shizuka Miyazaki. She and our Official had a big fight that could make into an international disaster a few years back and here we found she was taking a vacation on the Island."

"Right and?"

Chin walks up to the window and looks over the view for a moment. "Dead end or so we thought." Steve sits on his bed, adjusting his VI and looking at Chin expectantly, "go on."

"Turns out they had an affair going on and she actually saw the attackers before they put on masks. They've done a good job at avoiding the cameras up to the point where they had to hide their faces. Anyway, we've got the hit in the database and it turns out we're dealing with triads."

Danny springs up on his bed, "what?"

Chin crosses his arms, "you heard me, brah. Apparently, our Santa Klaus is a little bit on the naughty side."

"What do you mean?" Steve asks already pulling the VI and it doesn't even surprise Danny anymore seeing him doing that, in fact, he was counting how long it will take him to do this, this time around.

"Information broker. Huge secrets that could crash World's economy basically."

Danny plugs out his own VI, "I'll be damned."

The nurse comes in, takes one look at Steve and Danny and then turns on her heel throwing her hands in the air.

Sadly, Danny knows exactly how she must feel right now.

The word would be: fed up.

"Come on Danno, we have a bad Santa to book." He glances at Danny and grins like a loon, "and who knows, maybe we'll be even on time at that fancy Christmas fundraiser."

Danny rolls his sleeves looking at Chin's and Lou's back as they make their hasty escape. "Can we not, actually? I really don't want to go to this thing."

"Me neither, but it's in the job description. Now stop whining and come on."

Danny sighs.

~~*~~

Fortunately, they didn't cause an international scandal, unfortunately, they're going to make it into the fancy party, Danny would rather ditch.

He rummages through Steve's things looking for a damn tie because Governor said they need to wear one and Steve grudgingly agreed. He swallows around the irritation he feels because he would rather curl up in a bed and sleep for a week than go and mingle with the High class that's going to make a big donation for HPD and Hospital and other things. He goes through Steve's things, cursing under his breath because for such an organized guy Steve's sure as hell doesn't think it would be a good idea to put a tie in an easily accessible box. He looks thoroughly until he finally finds it or at least he thinks he does but after closer inspection, he notes, it's rather small and strangely familiar and when it hits him he almost sways on his feet.

No fucking way.

He moves back until his knees hit something and he sits on the bed, blinking at the tie he lost all those years ago.

"Danny? You found my tie?" Steve shouts from the living room and Danny snaps back into reality trying to keep his panic at bay.

He jumps to the wardrobe, stuffs his tie back and finds the right one, he closes the door just as Steve walks into the room.

"I've got it." He shows the black-tie up and throws it at Steve after a second, "wear it. We're already late." He says on his way to the door, Steve hot on his heels.

That, that was completely unexpected and Danny tries to stop his head from spinning. There's no way Steve knew it was Danny's tie if he did, he would bring that eons ago, so that meant he had no idea.

Danny was too old for this, for his heart imitating a caged bird and the excitement unfurling slowly in his belly, pulsing through his veins.

He glances at Steve giving him a curious glance and wonders.

He almost falls down the stairs when he realizes his first kiss was with Steve of all people and what were the chances, really for them to meet again after all those years. He windmills his arms reading himself for impact even if his head is full of _Steve, Steve, Steve_ , fortunately, the man himself is there to catch him. Danny absolutely not flushes when he blinks up at Steve's worried face.

"You ok?"

Danny's not sure he is.

"'m fine, come on we're late." He grumbles and Steve nods slowly, looking at Danny like he tried to figure something out, but didn't have all the necessary pieces to put it together.

He looks like a confused puppy and Danny's stupid heart somersaults.

It's going to be a long night.

~~*~~

Steve glances at Danny and worries his lip, his partner looks deep in thought, face scrunched in focus and awfully silent, Steve hated when Danny was silent.

"Danny?"

It takes a moment, but Danny rolls his head to the side to look at him, "eyes on the road MacGyver."

Steve takes his eyes off Danny and looks at the road, "so what's wrong, partner?" He peeks at his friend from a corner of his eye. Danny looks kind of baffled, Steve's not sure by what, though and it worries him. Danny sags on the seat and starts to fiddle with his tie before he sighs.

"Nothing, I'm kind of tired and I remembered something from the past."

Steve sits a little straighter, "what?" He glances at Danny only to be met with laughing blue eyes.

"Wouldn't you like to know, babe."

Of course, he wanted to know there wasn't a thing he didn't want to know about Danny. It's dangerous this thing, but he can't help himself when it comes to the man beside him because Steve never felt like this with anyone else before and it's confusing. What he's certain of is that he would go after Danny to the end of the world and back. It took him embarrassingly long to understand that his feelings for Danny ran a little deeper than simple friendship. He quirks his brow at Danny, who's still looking at him with that lazy smirk.

He wanted to keep him forever by his side. He never wanted anything so badly in his life, that one night so many years ago as a kid didn't count. "I want to, actually. Or is it some big secret?"

Danny grins impishly, "Well, I'll have you know I was thinking about my first kiss."

His hand slips and the car sways and only thanks to the reflexes installed in him by the Navy they don't end up on a lamppost. Danny screams at him, clutching to his seat for dear life.

"What the hell is the matter with you?! Who the hell gave you a driving license?!"

Steve gulps trying to clear his mind from the onslaught of thoughts. "We're fine, stop with the complaining." He says over the blood thrumming in his ears. It shouldn't affect him, that news, but it did and he bites the inside of his cheek.

"We're fine, he says." Danny flails his hands in a blur of motion, "unbelievable. You're a disaster waiting to happen, Steven. Oh my God."

"I have it under control, Danny. Chill, man." He says through gritted teeth.

Danny pursues his lips and gives him a considering look, "it's a marvel I'm not all gray by now, with all your crazy driving." He looks out of the window and Steve sees in his reflection that he's smiling despite ranting about Steve's driving skills, it makes him relax a bit.

"You would make a great silver fox with that mane of yours, Danno." He says, glancing at Danny in time to see him chuckle, eyes squinting and nose scrunching. It's adorable, but Steve keeps it for himself, he's not particularly warmed to the idea of Danny biting his head off for calling him adorable. "So? Your first kiss?"

Danny laughs, "tall, dark and gorgeous." He lets the words hang in the air not letting anything more out. Steve wants to know more though, but he's not about to push his luck. He tries not to think about his first kiss that happened all those years ago.

"We're almost there, are you ready, Danno?"

Danny snickers, "it's not too late to turn around." He rights his tie and adds, "well, let's get there and get it over with."

Steve couldn't agree more.

~~*~~

Steve hated those functions with passion, all that polite small talk pissed him off, to be honest. He's not sure how long they're here, he lost the sight of his team a long time ago, disappearing into a crowd. He looks at the big Christmas tree and thinks how he would rather have Danny over at his place to watch a game and drink some beer, eating steaks.

He sighs and smiles apologetically at the older woman who chatted his ear off and wanders off. The party looks like it's nearing an end and he feels like he can breathe again. He scans the open space in hopes of spotting the blond hair of his partner, but he's nowhere in sight so he makes his way through the tangle of bodies. He spots Kono and Chin talking with each other and rolling their eyes and he shakes his head fondly. He moves further into the room until he finally spots his partner in the music hall. He holds a champagne flute and just looks around smiling at the few people who sit around. Steve takes a step forward, but Danny puts away his drink on the tray the waiter offers him and after a second he walks to the now empty stage. He looks around and Steve freezes, feeling a déjà vu kind of thing, he watches as Danny hopes on the scene and walks up to the white grand piano standing in the center of it.

Lou finds him and puts a heavy hand on his arm, "what are you doing standing all alone? Are you hiding?"

Steve shakes his head, eyes glued to Danny and Lou frowns until he turns his head to look in the direction Steve's looking at.

"What the hell?"

That's what Steve would like to know. It's not long before Chin and Kono join them and they both squint at the scene, eyes widening.

"What is Danny doing, there?" Kono asks uncertain and a little bit dumbstruck.

Danny smiles down at the piano, it's soft like he just met with a long lost friend after many, many years and after a minute he opens the lid, moving his finger lightly over the keys. He sits down and closes his eyes taking a deep breath. Steve watches in fascination as his chest moves up and down with each inhale and exhale. The light illuminates Danny just so and Steve tries to commit this sight to a memory.

Danny flexes his fingers and then he hits the keys and it feels like a slap to the cheek.

_I'll be home for Christmas_

_You can plan on me_

He starts and his accent shows, in full force, he carries the tune like he was born with it and Steve is sent back in time to this small pub in New Jersey and the little blond performing the very same song.

"Wow, just— who knew Danny had it in him," Chin exclaims surprised and not many things can catch him off guard, Kono doesn't look any better with eyes almost bulging out in astonishment.

Lou, on the other hand, nudges Steve in the ribs, "you all right, there?"

"Yes I'm— I'm fine." He says hoarsely, there's no way, there's absolutely no way, he thinks, looking dazedly at Danny who sways in his seat, hands moving back and forth. Except, except it would make sense. Danny is from Newark it could be him. Steve sways on his feet trying to get it together.

Danny ends the song with a flourish and Steve thinks that's it, but then Danny straightens up takes a breath and his fingers move to the keyboard again, this time in a more livelier tune, he's a blur of movement which shouldn't be a surprise because it's Danny but seeing him bouncing on the seat, head shaking to the beat it's a sight to behold.

Then he starts singing and Steve's knees feel kind of weak. While Danny went all Frank Sinatra on them with the ‘I'll be home for Christmas' song this time he springs on them Mariah Carey.

_I don't want a lot for Christmas_

_There is just one thing I need_

_I don't care about the presents_

_Underneath the Christmas tree_

Danny starts with a smile and closed eyes, fingers dancing on the keys. Lou whistles and Kono giggles while Chin looks between Steve and Danny with a knowing look.

Danny glances at him then, eyes a little bit hooded and when the next lines come to, Steve sits down heavily on a nearby chair not able to break the eye contact when Danny sings the words that make Steve's heart beat faster.

_I just want you for my own_

_More than you could ever know_

_Make my wish come true, oh_

_All I want for Christmas is you_

He just takes it in, he doesn't even realize when their team just excuses themselves, his eyes locked on Danny the whole time.

Danny finishes the song and slowly stands up, he bows beaming at Steve with crinkling eyes and when he wiggles his finger to usher Steve to him he walks willingly and more than a little giddy.

"Look up," Danny says and Steve obediently moves his eyes to the ceiling only to be met with the mistletoe. "You’re such a pantagruelian goofball, McGarrett."

He jerks his head down at the familiar words, "wha—" his eyes widen when a pair of warm lips, tasting of champagne, closes around his own. Danny keeps it light and tentative at first until he licks into Steve's mouth and it's all that takes for Steve to growl into the kiss. He moves his hands on Danny's shoulders and slides them down his sides, Danny giggles and it makes Steve smile into the kiss. He sneaks one hand around Danny's waist and the other one he moves to his hip, where he curls it possessively and brings him closer, forcing Danny to move his own hands, that are fisted in Steve's suit jacket, up around his neck. They change the angle and now Steve's the one who licks into Danny's lips, sliding his tongue over the edges of his teeth and further up to taste everything Danny has to offer. He feels half-drunk on the sensations, the warmth, and the taste, his whole world narrowing down to this moment. Danny moves away to take a breath and Steve chases his mouth with his own, trying to claim that insufferable lips forever, he nips and bites at Danny's jaw and then licks into his mouth again, trembling with need, Danny let's out a muffled sound that ignites a desire boiling down in Steve's stomach. "Danny, Danny, Danny." He says urgently, exploring his partner's mouth like the world was about to end.

Someone clears their throat and Steve pulls out long enough to glare at the person who has the gall to interrupt them.

Denning looks completely unimpressed and Steve straightens up slowly, dread seeping into the pit of his stomach. "Governor." He nods and makes a mistake glancing at Danny, who looks positively debauched and Steve did that. He doesn't want anything more than to wrap his hands around Danny again and pull him flush to him and kiss that mouth some more, with single-minded focus. Denning is staring at them so Steve wills himself to snap his attention to the Governor before he does something stupid like throwing Danny over his shoulder and dashing out of here using the terrace.

Denning sighs, his shoulders slouch in resignation. "I believe I asked you, Detective, if the two of you want to inform me about this very thing." He addresses Danny, who clears his throat.

"To set things straight I've got no idea the question was about that." He moves his hands to emphasize what he means, "and if I did know I would still say no since it's a very recent development."

"Aha." The Governor tilts his head, staring at them skeptically, "I know there's no rule in five-0 banning the relationship between the members, but I need to know you can keep being professional in the field, I can't have it affecting you out there."

It's a little awkward, but less than the last time Governor aked him that, when Catherine was still around. Steve glances at Danny, who's biting his swollen lip and he swallows thickly at the sight, "you don't have to worry about it, sir."

Denning nods, "good." He looks at them, "You're really want to tell me that's a recent development."

Danny nods his head vehemently, "aside from that he's my childhood first kiss, we're talking 10 maybe 15 minutes recent."

Steve's heart flutters in his chest and he starts grinning, he knew, the moment he saw Danny playing he knew he's the kid that turned Steve's world upside down that fateful night so long ago.

Denning brows almost hit his hairline in surprise, "really? Because I was sure it was going for some time now."

Steve shrugs, "must be all that sexual tension." He laughs at Danny's hissed ‘Steve!'

"Anyway, with all due respect Governor, but Danny and I have a lot of bedtime to catch up on."

Denning startles with a laugh and Steve pulls furiously flushing Danny out of here planning on all the things he's going to do to him.

"And how much of ‘bedtime' we have to catch up to, exactly?" Danny asks, trying to right himself up and after a minute giving up.

Steve's lips twitch, "6 years 2 months and 27 days."

"Oh my God you're impossible. It’s like since day one."

“Exactly.” He laughs, pulling Danny to his side enjoying the warmth. "Such an animal," Danny mumbles into his shoulder, but he's smiling so Steve plants a kiss on his hair.

 


End file.
